Photos He's Coming
Sept. 15, 2008 -- If you see a person walking down a dark street and you think they're a male, you're more likely to think they're coming towards you, Australian researchers have found. And they say if you think the person is a female, you are more likely to think they're walking away. Psychologist Rick van der Zwan and colleagues at Southern Cross University in Coffs Harbour, Australia report their findings in the journal Current Biology. "The gender that you perceive the walker to be affects whether you think they're coming towards you or away," said van der Zwan. As social creatures, humans depend on understanding what other people around us are doing. We are able to pick up information such as someone's gender, their emotional state and personality traits, on the basis of how they are moving. "If I'm walking up to you with my arms up, you can tell by the way I'm moving whether I'm likely to give you a big cuddle or whether I might be going to strike you," said van der Zwan. This ability means we can avoid aggressive-looking people even at a distance. People are also good at telling at a distance if others are coming towards them or moving away, which is why we don't tend to collide with others on a crowded footpath. But, what cues do people use to tell them which direction someone is moving? To investigate this question, van der Zwan used what's known as a digitized "point-light figures." These are figures made out of points of light, which mark the movement of the major joints, such as the ankles, wrists knees, hips, shoulders and head, based on real live people walking on a treadmill. |
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